Nearly two thirds of seizures of cash by Oklahoma law enforcement agencies come from blacks, Hispanics and other racial or ethnic minorities, an Oklahoma Watch analysis of high-dollar forfeiture cases in 10 counties shows.
The findings suggest to some critics of the state’s civil asset forfeiture laws that officers are using racial profiling, even subconsciously, in deciding whose vehicles to search or money to seize. Advocacy groups and some lawmakers argue forfeiture practices violate civil rights and allow police to take assets without a conviction or even filing a charge.
Law enforcement officials deny targeting people by race. Some said if Hispanics are disproportionately represented in forfeiture cases, it is because Mexican drug cartels often use Hispanics to transport drug profits. The racial disparities also reflect some national trends; the U.S. Sentencing Commission reports that minorities comprise nearly 80 percent of those convicted of drug trafficking in federal courts.
But Oklahoma officials said they don’t really know why most of the seizures involved blacks or Hispanics. They argue the power to seize assets that are obviously tied to drug trafficking is critical to fighting the drug war, and a legislative bill that would limit the practice will impede those efforts.
Using state court records, Oklahoma Watch examined forfeiture cases in 10 counties, including the six largest ones, involving seizures of $5,000 or more in cash between Jan. 1, 2010 and Aug. 11, 2015. Out of the 401 cases, 261, or 65 percent, involved only Hispanics, blacks, American Indians, Asians or other minorities. The race or ethnicity was listed in public records or identified by surnames.
The minority groups with the largest shares were blacks, with 31 percent of cases, and Hispanics, with 29 percent. Whites represented 31 percent.
In Oklahoma County, 75 percent of the cases involved only racial or ethnic minorities. Thirty-eight percent, the largest share, involved Hispanics, and 33 percent blacks.
In Tulsa County, 35 percent of forfeiture cases were against blacks, and 21 percent against Hispanics. Just over a third involved whites.
Oklahoma Watch examined only cases involving $5,000 or more of seized cash because authorities say such large amounts tend to be confiscated in highway drug interdictions. Cases involving smaller amounts are often by-products of police activity related to various local crimes.
Brady Henderson, legal director of ACLU-Oklahoma, said the findings reflect what the organization has heard anecdotally about alleged racial profiling during interdiction stops.
“That (data) matches what we would expect from our knowledge of who is profiled in these kinds of stops, of who tends to be a victim of asset forfeiture,” Henderson said. “It (race) is a major factor,” along with other aspects, such as having an out-of-state license plate.
Oklahoma County Assistant District Attorney Scott Rowland denied that minorities are targeted in forfeitures, saying, “I don’t believe these officers are racially profiling. Number one, it’s illegal, it’s unconstitutional. And number two, frankly, I don’t think it’s effective.”
Oklahoma Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan journalism service that produces in-depth and investigative content on a range of public-policy issues facing the state. For more Oklahoma Watch content, go to www.oklahomawatch.org.
